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1 Kings 8-9
New Living Translation

The Ark Brought to the Temple

8 Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of the Israelites. They were to bring the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion. 2 So all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the annual Festival of Shelters, which is held in early autumn in the month of Ethanim.[a]

3 When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark. 4 The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the Lord along with the special tent[b] and all the sacred items that had been in it. 5 There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!

6 Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. 8 These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day. 9 Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai,[c] where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left the land of Egypt.

10 When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. 11 The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord.

Solomon Praises the Lord

12 Then Solomon prayed, “O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. 13 Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever![d]”

14 Then the king turned around to the entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing: 15 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept the promise he made to my father, David. For he told my father, 16 ‘From the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have never chosen a city among any of the tribes of Israel as the place where a Temple should be built to honor my name. But I have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.’”

17 Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, 19 but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’

20 “And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made, for I have become king in my father’s place, and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised. I have built this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And I have prepared a place there for the Ark, which contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel. He lifted his hands toward heaven, 23 and he prayed,

“O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with your own mouth, and with your own hands you have fulfilled it today.

25 “And now, O Lord, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow me as you have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’ 26 Now, O God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David, my father.

27 “But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! 28 Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today. 29 May you watch over this Temple night and day, this place where you have said, ‘My name will be there.’ May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. 30 May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.

31 “If someone wrongs another person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple, 32 then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.

33 “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple, 34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors.

35 “If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because you have punished them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to your people as their special possession.

37 “If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns—whatever disaster or disease there is— 38 and if your people Israel pray about their troubles, raising their hands toward this Temple, 39 then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give your people what their actions deserve, for you alone know each human heart. 40 Then they will fear you as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors.

41 “In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name, 42 for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, 43 then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name.

44 “If your people go out where you send them to fight their enemies, and if they pray to the Lord by turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name, 45 then hear their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause.

46 “If they sin against you—and who has never sinned?—you might become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them and take them captive to their land far away or near. 47 But in that land of exile, they might turn to you in repentance and pray, ‘We have sinned, done evil, and acted wickedly.’ 48 If they turn to you with their whole heart and soul in the land of their enemies and pray toward the land you gave to their ancestors—toward this city you have chosen, and toward this Temple I have built to honor your name— 49 then hear their prayers and their petition from heaven where you live, and uphold their cause. 50 Forgive your people who have sinned against you. Forgive all the offenses they have committed against you. Make their captors merciful to them, 51 for they are your people—your special possession—whom you brought out of the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt.

52 “May your eyes be open to my requests and to the requests of your people Israel. May you hear and answer them whenever they cry out to you. 53 For when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Sovereign Lord, you told your servant Moses that you had set Israel apart from all the nations of the earth to be your own special possession.”

The Dedication of the Temple

54 When Solomon finished making these prayers and petitions to the Lord, he stood up in front of the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands raised toward heaven. 55 He stood and in a loud voice blessed the entire congregation of Israel:

56 “Praise the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the wonderful promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us or abandon us. 58 May he give us the desire to do his will in everything and to obey all the commands, decrees, and regulations that he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words that I have prayed in the presence of the Lord be before him constantly, day and night, so that the Lord our God may give justice to me and to his people Israel, according to each day’s needs. 60 Then people all over the earth will know that the Lord alone is God and there is no other. 61 And may you be completely faithful to the Lord our God. May you always obey his decrees and commands, just as you are doing today.”

62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices to the Lord. 63 Solomon offered to the Lord a peace offering of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. And so the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Temple of the Lord.

64 That same day the king consecrated the central area of the courtyard in front of the Lord’s Temple. He offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of peace offerings there, because the bronze altar in the Lord’s presence was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

65 Then Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters[e] in the presence of the Lord our God. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south. The celebration went on for fourteen days in all—seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven days for the Festival of Shelters.[f] 66 After the festival was over,[g] Solomon sent the people home. They blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad because the Lord had been good to his servant David and to his people Israel.

The Lord’s Response to Solomon

9 So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do. 2 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had done before at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him,

“I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy—this place you have built where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.

4 “As for you, if you will follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees, and regulations, 5 then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: ‘One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.’

6 “But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, 7 then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. 8 And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will gasp in horror. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?’

9 “And the answer will be, ‘Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.’”

Solomon’s Agreement with Hiram

10 It took Solomon twenty years to build the Lord’s Temple and his own royal palace. At the end of that time, 11 he gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to King Hiram of Tyre. (Hiram had previously provided all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that Solomon had requested.) 12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the towns Solomon had given him, he was not at all pleased with them. 13 “What kind of towns are these, my brother?” he asked. So Hiram called that area Cabul (which means “worthless”), as it is still known today. 14 Nevertheless, Hiram paid[h] Solomon 9,000 pounds[i] of gold.

Solomon’s Many Achievements

15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, the supporting terraces,[j] the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer, killing the Canaanite population and burning it down. He gave the city to his daughter as a wedding gift when she married Solomon. 17 So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon, 18 Baalath, and Tamar[k] in the wilderness within his land. 19 He built towns as supply centers and constructed towns where his chariots and horses[l] could be stationed. He built everything he desired in Jerusalem and Lebanon and throughout his entire realm.

20 There were still some people living in the land who were not Israelites, including Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 21 These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed.[m] So Solomon conscripted them as slaves, and they serve as forced laborers to this day. 22 But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers. 23 Solomon appointed 550 of them to supervise the people working on his various projects.

24 Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces.

25 Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord. He also burned incense to the Lord. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.

26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath[n] in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea.[o] 27 Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons[p] of gold.

Footnotes

  1. 8:2 Hebrew at the festival in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. The Festival of Shelters began on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day occurred in late September, October, or early November.
  2. 8:4 Hebrew the Tent of Meeting; i.e., the tent mentioned in 2 Sam 6:17 and 1 Chr 16:1.
  3. 8:9 Hebrew at Horeb, another name for Sinai.
  4. 8:13 Some Greek texts add the line Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?
  5. 8:65a Hebrew the festival; see note on 8:2.
  6. 8:65b Hebrew seven days and seven days, fourteen days; compare parallel text at 2 Chr 7:8-10.
  7. 8:66 Hebrew On the eighth day, probably referring to the day following the seven-day Festival of Shelters; compare parallel text at 2 Chr 7:9-10.
  8. 9:14a Or For Hiram had paid.
  9. 9:14b Hebrew 120 talents [4,000 kilograms].
  10. 9:15 Hebrew the millo; also in 9:24. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  11. 9:18 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text reads Tadmor.
  12. 9:19 Or and charioteers.
  13. 9:21 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
  14. 9:26a As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 14:22; 16:6); Hebrew reads Eloth, a variant spelling of Elath.
  15. 9:26b Hebrew sea of reeds.
  16. 9:28 Hebrew 420 talents [14 metric tons].
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1 Kings 8-9
New International Version

The Ark Brought to the Temple(A)

8 Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs(B) of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark(C) of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.(D) 2 All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival(E) in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.(F)

3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests(G) took up the ark, 4 and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting(H) and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites(I) carried them up, 5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing(J) so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant(K) to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place,(L) and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.(M) 7 The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed(N) the ark and its carrying poles. 8 These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.(O) 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets(P) that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud(Q) filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service(R) because of the cloud, for the glory(S) of the Lord filled his temple.

12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;(T) 13 I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell(U) forever.”

14 While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed(V) them. 15 Then he said:

“Praise be to the Lord,(W) the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, 16 ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt,(X) I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name(Y) might be there, but I have chosen(Z) David(AA) to rule my people Israel.’

17 “My father David had it in his heart(AB) to build a temple(AC) for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. 19 Nevertheless, you(AD) are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’(AE)

20 “The Lord has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded(AF) David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built(AG) the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication(AH)

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands(AI) toward heaven 23 and said:

“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like(AJ) you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love(AK) with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises(AL) you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised(AM) your servant David my father come true.

27 “But will God really dwell(AN) on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven,(AO) cannot contain(AP) you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open(AQ) toward(AR) this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name(AS) shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray(AT) toward this place. Hear(AU) from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.(AV)

31 “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath(AW) before your altar in this temple, 32 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.(AX)

33 “When your people Israel have been defeated(AY) by an enemy because they have sinned(AZ) against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple,(BA) 34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain(BB) because your people have sinned(BC) against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach(BD) them the right way(BE) to live, and send rain(BF) on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

37 “When famine(BG) or plague(BH) comes to the land, or blight(BI) or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers,(BJ) or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands(BK) toward this temple— 39 then hear(BL) from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive(BM) and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know(BN) their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), 40 so that they will fear(BO) you all the time they live in the land(BP) you gave our ancestors.

41 “As for the foreigner(BQ) who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear(BR) of your great name and your mighty hand(BS) and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know(BT) your name and fear(BU) you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.(BV)

44 “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray(BW) to the Lord toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 45 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.(BX)

46 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin(BY)—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive(BZ) to their own lands, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead(CA) with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;(CB) 48 and if they turn back(CC) to you with all their heart(CD) and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray(CE) to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple(CF) I have built for your Name;(CG) 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy;(CH) 51 for they are your people and your inheritance,(CI) whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.(CJ)

52 “May your eyes be open(CK) to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you.(CL) 53 For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance,(CM) just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed(CN) the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

56 “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest(CO) to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises(CP) he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake(CQ) us. 58 May he turn our hearts(CR) to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, 60 so that all the peoples(CS) of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.(CT) 61 And may your hearts(CU) be fully committed(CV) to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

The Dedication of the Temple(CW)

62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices(CX) before the Lord. 63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated(CY) the temple of the Lord.

64 On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the Lord, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat(CZ) of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar(DA) that stood before the Lord was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.(DB)

65 So Solomon observed the festival(DC) at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath(DD) to the Wadi of Egypt.(DE) They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. 66 On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good(DF) things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

The Lord Appears to Solomon(DG)

9 When Solomon had finished(DH) building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2 the Lord appeared(DI) to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him:

“I have heard(DJ) the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name(DK) there forever. My eyes(DL) and my heart will always be there.

4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart(DM) and uprightness, as David(DN) your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws,(DO) 5 I will establish(DP) your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail(DQ) to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

6 “But if you[a] or your descendants turn away(DR) from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods(DS) and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land(DT) I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.(DU) Israel will then become a byword(DV) and an object of ridicule(DW) among all peoples. 8 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled(DX) and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’(DY) 9 People will answer,(DZ) ‘Because they have forsaken(EA) the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster(EB) on them.’”

Solomon’s Other Activities(EC)

10 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the Lord and the royal palace— 11 King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold(ED) he wanted. 12 But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. 13 “What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul,[d](EE) a name they have to this day. 14 Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents[e] of gold.(EF)

15 Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted(EG) to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,[f](EH) the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor,(EI) Megiddo and Gezer.(EJ) 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter,(EK) Solomon’s wife. 17 And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,(EL) 18 Baalath,(EM) and Tadmor[g] in the desert, within his land, 19 as well as all his store cities(EN) and the towns for his chariots(EO) and for his horses[h]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

20 There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites,(EP) Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites(EQ) (these peoples were not Israelites). 21 Solomon conscripted the descendants(ER) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate[i](ES)—to serve as slave labor,(ET) as it is to this day. 22 But Solomon did not make slaves(EU) of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 23 They were also the chief officials(EV) in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

24 After Pharaoh’s daughter(EW) had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.(EX)

25 Three(EY) times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.

26 King Solomon also built ships(EZ) at Ezion Geber,(FA) which is near Elath(FB) in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.[j] 27 And Hiram sent his men—sailors(FC) who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir(FD) and brought back 420 talents[k] of gold,(FE) which they delivered to King Solomon.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 9:6 The Hebrew is plural.
  2. 1 Kings 9:6 The Hebrew is plural.
  3. 1 Kings 9:8 See some Septuagint manuscripts, Old Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Targum; Hebrew And though this temple is now imposing, all
  4. 1 Kings 9:13 Kabul sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing.
  5. 1 Kings 9:14 That is, about 4 1/2 tons or about 4 metric tons
  6. 1 Kings 9:15 Or the Millo; also in verse 24
  7. 1 Kings 9:18 The Hebrew may also be read Tamar.
  8. 1 Kings 9:19 Or charioteers
  9. 1 Kings 9:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  10. 1 Kings 9:26 Or the Sea of Reeds
  11. 1 Kings 9:28 That is, about 16 tons or about 14 metric tons
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